


Absolutely Smitten

by FriendlyNonMurderingSort



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: BBKaz Day 2017, Big Boss being a good dad, Big Boss/Eva is background, F/M, M/M, this is really dumb i'm sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2019-01-04 00:36:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12158022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FriendlyNonMurderingSort/pseuds/FriendlyNonMurderingSort
Summary: Kazuhira is used to the daily ins and outs of weirdos that come through the all-you-can-eat buffet that he works at. When a blonde lady and her two sons walk through the door, Kaz wasn't sure what he was expecting but it certainly wasn't to make friends with said sons and their father.





	Absolutely Smitten

**Author's Note:**

> I'll have you know that it is 9pm in Hawai'i right now so I'm still on time for this.

Kaz hated having the afternoon-night shift, but at least they were the most interesting. The strangest people showed up at night, as well as the most reasonable ones. It was an odd mix. The people that came later in the evening also tended to be older people that were cleaner, more polite and stayed for longer. Kaz liked not having to worry about groups of people for upward of an hour at a time. It made his day more relaxing.

That, and, his mother only ever worked the morning shift. Kaz saw her for a total of ten minutes, exchanged a few quiet words about how his day at school was, and then she left. Once she was gone, he took over the front and had the run of the place. More than likely, Kaz stood there looking bored, but at least he had the leisure to look bored. If his mother were around, he had to stand at attention and smile for an entirety of eight hours, while simultaneously people-watching the very few people that came in during the morning shifts.

A woman and two boys stood near the entrance of the buffet. They were far enough back that no one could question if they were going to pay or not, but far enough through the door that Kaz knew they were going to be customers. 

The woman was tall, with her picture-perfect blonde hair done up in a neat and tidy bun. She was dressed in cartoon giraffe-printed scrubs. The hospital was nearby, so it wasn’t strange that she was there. Kaz saw a lot of nurses come through the buffet. It was terrible food, but there was a lot of it for cheap. Who could complain?

The fact that she had boys with her was strange. Kaz furrowed his eyebrows at them, torn between helping the guy in front of him pay for his meal, and analyzing the three people behind him. Only one of the boys looked like he could be her son. Maybe they were her son and his friend?

The blond boy was shorter than the other, and his knees were scraped and bruised under the raggedy edges of his shorts. Kaz had no doubts that his elbows looked the same. A bruising cut on his cheek and a busted lip, Kaz pitied the woman if she was his mother. Kaz hadn’t been quite as wild when he was younger, but it still made his mother die of worry when he came home with scrapes and bumps.

“He’s not here,” the woman muttered.

Kaz glanced at the other boy. Shaggy brown hair, slightly taller than his friend. Kaz didn’t see a single bruise on him. Maybe he was more of a bookworm type? Kaz smirked to himself, wondering how their friendship worked when it was evident that one boy wanted to run around like crazy and the other did not.

“Damn him,” he growled. She switched her weight from foot to foot, scanning the crowd behind Kaz.

Kaz kept his head down, pretending to scribble down something important. He was rewriting notes and definitions from his lecture earlier in the day. There was an exam on Friday, and he would take any study time he could get. Getting a Master’s was no easy feat, but Kaz was determined.

“What were you expecting? He’s a lazy jackass,” the blond boy snapped, followed by a quick, “Ow!” as the lady pinched his ear.

“I don’t know who taught you that word, but they’re in just as much trouble as you, Mister,” the lady replied. 

Kaz’s eyes flickered up to meet hers. Her icy blue eyes met his, and a grin broke out onto her face. She put a hand on each boy’s shoulder and guided them over to where Kaz stood.

“Welcome,” Kaz greeted. “Would you like three meals today?”

“I’m sorry to bother you,” the lady interrupted. Her smile read ‘I’m beautiful and I know how to use it.' It made Kaz more than a little nervous. “My name is Eva, and these are my boys, Eli and David.” 

Kaz did his best to smile, and not grimace. “Nice to meet you,” he said. He was used to people that were overly polite. At least she was trying.

“Their father was supposed to meet me here and buy their dinner, but he isn’t here yet,” she continued. “I’m a nurse, and I have a long shift ahead of me. If I don’t leave soon, I’ll be late. Would it be okay if I bought their meals and left them until their dad shows up?” She asked. She batted her long, lovely lashes. Kaz felt a little weak in the knees. “I’ll help them get food and then set them up in a corner, and I _know they’ll behave_ ,” she said. Her voice dropped at the last few words. Both boys winced as she grabbed their shoulders a little tighter. The entire time, she smiled at Kaz.

Kaz didn’t know what he was thinking would happen when a lady and her two children walked in, but it certainly wasn’t being asked a question like this. “I guess so,” Kaz agreed. It wasn’t technically a rule that children had to be accompanied by an adult. If their food was paid for, who would care?

“And would you—” she began looking through her purse and dug out an expensive-looking wallet. “Would you just keep an eye on them for me?” Eva asked. “They can get a little unruly sometimes.”

That made Kaz uncomfortable. Being responsible for her kids? That didn’t sound quite right.

“Here,” she said. She held out her hand. In her fingers, a crisp fifty-dollar bill. “Think of it as a tip. They won’t cause any trouble, though,” Eva assured.

“I don’t know if that’s legal,” Kaz said, furrowing his eyebrows. On the other hand, fifty dollars sounded really nice. He’d scratched one of the lenses of his aviators, and he desperately wanted it replaced. What he wouldn’t give to be wearing his shades now to try and get away from Eva’s pretty, pleading gaze.

“Don’t worry about it!” Eva said with a grin. She pushed the fifty dollars at Kaz. “They’re little angels, I promise.”

Both of the boys and Kaz made a face at that. From what she had been saying, it certainly didn’t sound like they were little angels to him. 

“Look, I don’t…”

“Please?”

Kaz took a third glance at the money in her hand. He looked between the two boys. The one with brown hair, David, seemed to be focused in on the food behind them. Even Kaz could smell the fresh batch of burgers that had been made. The other, Eli, was staring at Kaz. It made him uncomfortable, but what was the worst that could happen?

“Alright,” Kaz said. “But please, keep your money,” he urged with a smile. The last thing Kaz needed was to get in serious trouble for taking extra money from a customer. “I’ll make sure to keep an eye on them until their dad shows up.”

Eva broke out into a wide grin. “You’re a lifesaver! Thank you so much.” Eva tucked the money away and then handed over a fancy, heavy credit card.

“Just for the two of them?” Kaz asked, figuring it was better to make sure.

“Yep,” Eva agreed.

Kaz swiped her card, had her sign her receipt, and then she was off with her sons. She guided them through the food, leaving Kaz to immediately regret his decision. He was no good with kids. Having to watch two of them all night long? Just thinking about it made Kaz’s stomach twist into knots. His mother would be far more capable of doing this, but she wouldn’t have accepted the offer in the first place.

Kaz glanced back at the little family, as Eva sat Eli and David down at a table in the back corner of the buffet. They both had two full plates, one of burgers and fries and the other of fruit and vegetables. Even from far away, Kaz could see David scowling at his plate of veggies.

Eva kissed their foreheads and then took off, sparing one last wave for Kaz before she left.

The boys, true to their mother’s word, were very quiet. Occasionally they would raise their voices, but one glance from Kaz and they were quiet again.

Each time a man that walked in that looked anything like either of them, Kaz looked back at them. They never responded to any of the men, and none went to sit down with the two boys. Kaz’s stomach rolled nervously once the two-hour mark passed.  
Both Eli and David were starting to fidget. Kaz could tell they were bored waiting for their dad. It made Kaz frown. What if he had been in an accident on the way to get them? Why else would he be so late?

Kaz flagged down one of the two other people working that night, signaling her to come over.

“Mind if I take a break?” Kaz asked. “I’m getting kinda hungry.”

“Sure,” she replied. She easily took over Kaz’s station at the front. It wasn’t as though there was a line of people out the front door and around the corner. The last group to come in had been a family of four about thirty minutes ago. The place was relatively quiet for once.

Kaz quickly scoped out the food for the night, settling on a burger and fries. It was good enough for him, and the fries were recently made. With his plate perfectly balanced in the palm of his hand, Kaz walked over to Eli and David.

“Mind if I join you?” Kaz asked.

Their blue eyes met across the table. Eli shrugged, and then David nodded.

“We don’t mind,” David said.

Kaz smiled at them and dragged over a chair from another table. He sat at the end of their booth, figuring it would be too weird to sit down next to either of them. After all, it wasn’t as if he knew them.

“Has your dad come by yet?” Kaz asked.

Eli scoffed. “That’s a stupid question.” He yelped a second later and turned a murderous glare onto David. “Don’t kick me,” he snapped.

“Don’t be rude,” David quipped.

Kaz was almost jealous of them. He never had a sibling, or any friends, to fight with when he was younger. He noticed that David’s plate of veggies was still piled high. Eli made some headway with his, although it looked more like he stuck to the sweeter fruits and berries Eva had given them. David poked at his salad miserably.

“Don’t like veggies?” Kaz teased, trying to lighten the dour mood that hung over the boys. 

“I have an aversion to salad,” David replied.

Eli gave a drawn-out roll of his eyes. “You have an aversion to life,” he mocked. “You don’t do anything fun. All you do is sit and read. It’s boring.”

“But I’m never grounded.”

Eli snorted.

“Do you two get along pretty well?” Kaz asked.

“Not at all!” both boys snapped. Even David looked pretty heated about it. They glared at each other before settling back into their seats.

Kaz grinned wide. “Your mom seemed pretty nice. Looks like she raised you pretty well.”

“She keeps us in line,” was David’s response.

Kaz furrowed his eyebrows. He didn’t know quite how to take that answer. Kept them in line? “Was she military before being a nurse?” he asked.

Eli’s cheeks split with a grin.

David saw the expression and leaned forward. He pointed a finger at Eli. “Don’t. Say. Anything.”

Kaz glanced between the two of them. They had a stare-down, neither of them blinking until they both turned to Kaz at the same time.

“What’s your name?” David blurted.

Kaz could have seen the disappointment and annoyance on Eli’s face from ten miles away. “Did I not tell you?”

David shook his head.

Kaz smiled at David. “Sorry, that was rude of me. My name is Kazuhira. Or just Kaz if you like.”

“Do you do anything else?” David asked.

“Shut up would you?” Eli grumbled. “I’m trying to tell Kaz a cool story.”

“He doesn’t want to hear it,” David said, furrowing his dark eyebrows.

“That’s okay, David,” Kaz said with a smile. “I’m sure it’s a cool story since Eli’s so positive about it.”

David groaned loudly and collapsed in his seat.

“It’s about our mom,” Eli started. He looked like the cat that ate the canary, turning to slowly face Kaz in his seat, one eyebrow raised. “She works for the American government,” he paused, letting a somewhat suspenseful (but mostly annoying, if you asked David) silence hang. “She’s a spy.”

Kaz raised his eyebrows. Figuring it was just a story made up by a bored little boy, he nodded along. “Really? What kind of spy work does she do?”

“The scary kind,” Eli answered. “She tracks people down, steals information. Sometimes she kills people.”

Kaz whistled. “She must be a dangerous lady.”

“She is,” Eli said. “It’s a good thing you didn’t take the money she offered you. It was probably blood money.”

Kaz laughed at that. “Do you know what blood money means, Eli? Or did you hear that in a movie?”

“Dad talks about it with her all the time,” Eli explained. “He doesn’t like that she takes dirty money for jobs. Says that she doesn’t have to kill so many people. Right now, she’s posing as a nurse in the hospital. There’s a guy there that she’s been following. He’s a patient right now, but she’s probably going to kill him. He’s in a gang, and he hurts a lot of people. First, she’s gotta scope it out; then she’ll make her move.”

Kaz’s smile fell. He was left speechless. Wasn’t this a dark story for a kid to be telling? Eli seemed pretty young to be thinking of such violence. Maybe their parents let them play violent video games. Who was Kaz to judge?

Seeing his expression, David butted in.

“Can I get ice cream?” he asked.

Kaz tore his eyes away from Eli’s striking blue ones. He hadn’t let up on his stare since finishing his story, and it made Kaz more uncomfortable than before.

“I’m not your mom,” Kaz replied. “Get whatever you like.”

David hopped up from the booth and made his way over to the cooler with the ice cream tubs.

“Did you want any, Eli?” Kaz asked.

Eli shook his head. “David’s still a little kid who likes sweets. I don’t eat anything sugary anymore.”

Kaz breathed a silent sigh of relief. Eli was still a little boy, despite his odd story. He got up, collecting the kids’ dishes and his own. He dropped them off by the dish pit and made his way back to David, who was still deciding what ice cream to get.

“Chocolate is the best,” Kaz said. “It’s always been my favorite.”

“My dad likes chocolate, too,” David agreed. He stared for a minute longer before going for the cookies and cream. 

“Hey, David, about your dad,” Kaz started. “Does he work late?”

“No, not really,” David answered.

Kaz felt sick. Should he contact the hospital and try to find Eva? He glanced at the clock. It was going on three hours since Eva had dropped the boys off. Eva made it seem like he would show up within a short time, and if he didn’t work late, Kaz didn’t know what to think. 

“Should we call your mom?” Kaz asked.

David shook his head. “He’s probably busy. He has lots of things to do, and he’s not around often.”

“Oh,” Kaz whispered. “I’m sorry, David.”

“It’s not your fault,” David said as he grabbed a spoon from a nearby container. “Eli doesn’t get along with him very well, but I like him. When I hang out with him, we wrestle and watch old movies together. It’s fun. Eli likes him, too, but he’s not the best at saying what he means.”

“That’s nice,” Kaz said softly. “I didn’t know my dad. I only lived with my mom when I was younger.”

David nodded, settling into his booth again once they got there. Eli was stretched out on his side, picking paper sugar packets. 

They lapsed into silence while David ate his ice cream, with Kaz keeping an eye on the clock. The thirty-minute marker was rolling around since he took his break, he felt a little sorry for leaving his coworker alone up there for so long, even if there wasn’t much happening.

“I have to get back to work now, okay?” Kaz said. He stood and replaced the chair to the table he took it from. 

David frowned around a spoonful of ice cream but nodded. Eli didn’t spare him a glance from picking at the sugar packets.

Kaz left to go back to the front, standing there with his elbows leaning against the cheap podium as if a buffet was anything like a high-quality restaurant. Every few minutes, Kaz checked the clock. There was only an hour left until they shut down for the night. No new food was being put out since the rest of it would last the final hour.

The bell above the door tinkled to alert Kaz.

“Welcome to—” Kaz barely got the words out before he was interrupted.

“Dad!” David yelled, zooming past Kaz and barreling into the man that had entered the buffet.

Kaz let out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding. To hear David say that after hours of waiting, it was a weight off his shoulders. 

“What took you so long?” Eli grumbled.

Kaz wasn’t sure when he joined the ensemble, but he was hanging out closer to Kaz than he was to David and his dad. 

“Kept you waiting, huh?” the man asked.

Kaz looked up at the man, unsure why his chest suddenly felt so tight. David was still wrapped around his middle, his face buried into the man’s tightly-fitted black shirt. Kaz gulped, unable to help giving their dad a once-over. Kaz spared a second to wonder if it was weird that he was checking out the dad of two boys he’d been babysitting all night. Kaz smirked to himself. Sounded like a porno if he’d ever heard of one.

“And this is our friend, Kaz,” David was saying as he dragged his dad over to the podium.

“Friend, eh?” 

Kaz wasn’t sure when David changed from hugging the man to introducing him, but Kaz forced out his most natural-looking smile.

“I don’t know about them, your wife, Eva, asked me to look after them,” Kaz explained.

“Oh, she’s not my wife,” the man said.

Kaz’s blood ran cold. Suddenly, rather than wonder what the man looked like without his clothes on, he was wondering if the man would strangle him to death to spare him the embarrassment of living anymore.

The man must have seen the look on Kaz’s face because he chortled.

“It’s okay; everyone makes that mistake. The name’s John,” he greeted, sticking out his hand.

Kazuhira, albeit nervously, took John’s hand. His grip was firm, but light. Kaz only hoped that John couldn’t feel Kaz’s racing pulse through his hands.

“Did she pay for their food?”

Kaz nodded.

“Great, I’ll take one more meal for myself,” John said. He dug around in his pockets, pulling out the bills and some change to pay for his meal. 

He and David retreated, while Eli stayed with Kaz.

“He’s so weird,” Eli grumbled. “Just wait, you’ll see,”

Kaz only nodded as Eli walked away to join his family.

“Friends of yours?” Kaz’s coworker asked, sneaking up at some point during the conversation.

Kaz nodded, even though it wasn’t entirely accurate. “Yeah, I’ve been watching the boys all night until John showed up to get them. Guess he was hungry, too.”

“You can go clock out and sit with them if you want,” they suggested. “I’m sure I’ll be okay up here by myself.”

“Are you sure?” Kaz asked.

“Yep!”

Not long after, Kaz found himself at the end of the booth again, sipping at some of the sweet, iced tea. Eli was crammed between John and the wall, while David sat on his side of the booth, eating a slice of cake.

Somehow, John had accumulated five plates of food and had already eaten most of it. Eli gave Kaz a pointed stare as if to say _you see what I mean?_ Kaz wasn’t sure how John did it. It was like some sort of magic show, watching him gulp down an entire fish fillet and a basket of fries, followed by a burger and mac and cheese. Kaz barely even realized how odd it was that he was intently watching John gobble down his food.

Somewhere in between his mac and cheese and his next burger, John glanced at his blond son.

“Why are you glaring at me?” he asked, piling up his empty plates.

“Because you’re embarrassing. And I’m hoping you’ll spontaneously combust.”

Both John and Kaz fell into raucous laughter, which only made Eli glare harder as he blushed all the way to the roots of his hair.

“It’s not funny!” he snapped.

John’s hand came down on Eli’s back, giving him a rough, but loving whack. “It’s not funny to you because you’re still a kid,” he said. “Your friend Kaz seems to think that it’s amusing, and I agree with him.”

Eli gave Kaz a personal glare, his nose crinkling.

“I’m sorry, Eli, but you do say some funny things. The story you told me earlier is probably one of the most interesting things I’ve heard in my life.”

“Story?” John asked. “What story?”

“It was about Eva,” Kaz said.

If he wasn’t wrong, it looked like Eli’s blush vanished in less than a second, his face going pale.

“Eva?” John repeated, turning an odd stare on Eli.

“Yeah, said she was a spy for the government,” Kaz laughed.

John, though, did not find it very funny. He continued to stare at Eli for a while before finally, softly chuckling.

“Yeah, he’s got an imagination on him,” John agreed. “He watches too many cartoons and plays too many games. I don’t know how he has enough time to get into fights at school.”

Eli pouted and looked away. 

“Hey, Kaz, can I talk to you?” John asked.

Kaz nodded.

He got up when John did and followed him to the pasta bar. Frankly, Kaz wasn’t sure how John was still eating. It didn’t help his case that John piled up at least three of an ordinary person’s portions of pasta, followed by two heaping scoops of spaghetti sauce and ground beef.

“Thank you for looking after Eli and David,” John said as he piled his plate with various types of pasta.

“It was my pleasure,” Kaz replied smoothly. At least it didn’t seem like John was going to hold the comment about Eva over his head. “Really, they were fun to talk to. Seems like you’ve got two good boys, John.”

John cracked a small smile, but Kaz caught it all the same. 

“They’re troublemakers, and sometimes they can be a pain in the ass, but they’re the best sons I could ask for.”

Kaz leaned against the pasta bar, watching with the same horrified, but interested attention as when John was shoveling down his burgers earlier.

“That is a staggering amount of parmesan cheese.”

John looked deeply offended. “There’s no such thing,” he argued.

Kaz barked a laugh. “Are you kidding me?” He pointedly stared at John’s plate. “You can’t even see any of the sauce anymore. It’s _just_ parmesan cheese at this point.”

“And that’s the way I like to eat my pasta,” John harrumphed.

“This is also about your seventh plate of food,” Kaz pointed out. “I don’t know if you’re human.”

John gave another small, fleeting smile. Kaz’s heart fluttered like a little bird in his chest.

“I assure you, I’m human through and through.”

Kaz furrowed his eyebrows but smiled. Was that supposed to be flirting? He wasn’t quite sure, but the line got John smiling wider, and that was all Kaz needed to forget about his mounting schoolwork and aching feet. 

“Most people can’t eat anywhere near that much.”

John’s face lit up as he raised an eyebrow. “I’m not most people.”

“No, you’re not,” Kaz assured.

He was positive that he could feel his stomach and heart doing backflips. He wanted to curse the fuzzy, near-anxious feeling in his blood, but when John smiled and asked Kaz more about him, he found that he didn't mind the butterflies taking over his body.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't even know if this is any good;; It's been a long time since I've written anything really lighthearted and I procrastinated for _quite_ a while.


End file.
